Major Robert Mehan, of the 128th Maintenance Group, stationed out of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in Georgia, waits to disembark a KC-135 at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, December 12, 2013. The flight originated out of Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., made a stop at RAF Lakenheath, England with its final destination at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

US Marine Corps First Combat Engineering Battalion Gunnery Sergeant Lloyd Beckford checks his rifle during a customs briefing, the first step to going home from a combat deployment in Afghanistan, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. The customs briefing instructs military personnel to remove unapproved objects from their person and belongings before boarding their flight home. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

US Marine Corps Corporal Arnold Alejo checks his bag after a customs briefing, the first step to going home from a combat deployment in Afghanistan, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. The customs briefing instructs military personnel to remove unapproved objects from their person and belongings before boarding their flight home. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

US military service members returning from combat deployment in Afghanistan enter the Passenger Terminal, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

US Air Force 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Airman First Class Krysten Cole, right, processes US Army HHBN 4th Infantry Division Military Police E5 Sergeant Thomas Evans, who has returned from combat deployment in Afghanistan, at the Passenger Terminal, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

An unidentified military security officer pets his dog Spikey before sweeping a plane soon to be filled with US military service members returning from combat deployment in Afghanistan, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

US military service members returning from combat deployment in Afghanistan board an Omni Air International 777 for a flight home, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Vice-Commander Colonel John Vaughn walks by a memorial dedicated to Peter Ganci, the senior most New York City Fire Department officer who perished in the attacks on 9/11, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. The transit center was originally named for Ganci but due to federal law, a military base could not be named after a civilian. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Technical Sergeant Nick Parrott starts up a R22 pumping unit to move diesel fuel from a truck to a large bladder, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. Parrot's home unit is the 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron, based out of Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.(Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Technical Sergeant Nick Parrott starts up a R22 pumping unit to move diesel fuel from a truck to a large bladder, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. Parrot's home unit is the 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron, based out of Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.(Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

376th Expeditionary Operations Group Co-Pilot Captain Mike Dobbs looks towards the cabin inside a KC-135 before Shell 74, a refueling mission over Afghanistan, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. Dobbs' home unit is the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

376th Expeditionary Operations Group Pilot and Captain Alex Denton flies a KC-135 during Shell 74, a refueling mission over Afghanistan, over the Hindu Kush Mountains of Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. Denton's home unit is the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

The Hindu Kush Mountains are photographed from a KC-135 during the 376th Expeditionary Operations Group Shell 74, a refueling mission over Afghanistan, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

An F-16 separates from a 376th Expeditionary Operations Group KC-135 during a refueling mission over Afghanistan, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

93rd Air Refueling Squadron Captain Ariel Kayne, left, kisses his wife, Sara, for the first time in three months, at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013. He was deployed to the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan as part of the 376th Expeditionary Operations Group. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)